When I became pregnant, I remember that one of the first things I wished was that my baby would not have any food allergies. Growing up in Manila and now living in Seattle, it seemed food allergies were so common in the US but not back home. I was hopeful my daughter would escape because my husband and I did not have any food allergies (I probably was a little lactose intolerant but that didn’t stop me from eating ice cream!). As an extra precaution, several friends suggested that I eat food with milk, cheese and peanut butter while pregnant and eat I did!
Alas, we realized Hanna might be allergic to something when we gave her dairy-based formula at 4 months old to supplement breastmilk. She started getting itchy and had red patches on her skin. We then tried a soy-based formula and didn’t have much luck. We confirmed that Hanna had food allergies after taking a blood and skin prick test – she was allergic to milk, eggs, soy, peanuts and dogs! While it sucks that she does have allergies, I am thankful that her reaction isn’t that severe, she can have the allergic food if they are baked in some goodies and the doctor is optimistic that she will outgrow her dairy and soy allergy when she turns 2 or 3 years old.
So while Hanna can’t have eggs, cheese, pizza and dairy based yogurt or ice cream, I’ve learned to become more creative with the food I give her so that she keeps on eating! Here’s a few food, both Pinoy and non-Pinoy, that she seems to like and some suggestions from the Global Filipino Parenting Village facebook group!
Food that I’ve tried so far:
- Arroz Caldo
- Beef Nilaga
- Lentils
- White chicken chili
- Chicken noodle soup
Tips from the group:
- Beef pinatisan
- Adobong puti - Nikki's Lola and Mom's recipe is "adobong puti" so no soy sauce at all! It turns brown from pan-frying the chicken after boiling in vinegar, garlic, peppercorns - and putting it back in the sauce.
- Gising gising
- Laing
- Pinoy Style chicken curry
- Palitaw
I’m excited to try all the suggestions of the group! If you have other Pinoy recipes you’ve tried and tested, please share